The prior art discloses steering columns for motor vehicles, in which a holding device is provided which is connected to the chassis of the motor vehicle and on which a shifting device is provided which is displaceable relative to the holding device and, in the event of a crash, can be displaced along a displacement axis. A deformation element is customarily provided between the holding device and the shifting device, said deformation element being secured both to the holding device and to the shifting device. The deformation element has a deformation region which is deformed during a relative displacement of the shifting device relative to the holding device and can thereby absorb crash energy.
By means of this design of a steering column, it is possible to absorb the crash energy applied to the steering wheel by the driver in the event of a crash in a defined manner since the crash energy converts into deformation energy by means of the deformation of the deformation element. Accordingly, the safety of the steering column can be improved since crash energy applied to the steering wheel by the driver can be further dissipated. The steering wheel is thereby also moved further out of the area of danger.
Deformation elements with deformation portions are known in principle. The deformation portions can either be provided here as pure deformation portions or as bending and tearing deformation portions
A telescopic steering column with a deformation element designed as a bending and tearing tab is known, for example, from DE 1 962 183 A, wherein the bending and tearing tab is provided here substantially coaxially with respect to the shifting device. A rolling up of the deformation portion correspondingly occurs in such a manner that the deformation portion of the bending and tearing tab expands in the radial direction to the displacement axis. Accordingly, a sufficiently large construction space has to be provided in order to allow the deformation of the bending tab to proceed in a defined manner even in the event of a crash and to prevent a collision of the deforming bending and tearing tab with other vehicle components.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,412 discloses a telescopic steering column in which a bending and tearing tab is located between bracket and outer steering column, said bending and tearing tab having to be mounted in a complicated mounting process since the clamping spindle extends through the bending and tearing tab.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,416 discloses a telescopic steering column in which a deformation portion is integrated in the bracket, i.e. the holding device. Since it is required for the bracket that the latter is as stiff as possible, but a defined deformation behavior is required for the deformation portion, the requirements imposed on the one component are contradictory, and therefore an adaptation to different types of vehicle is difficult.